Libraries’ future at a mall near you

Six years ago ground was about to be broken for a branch library in eastern Chula Vista; the books already had been purchased. Then the building boom collapsed.

Instead of a ground breaking, eastern Chula Vista mostly experienced six years of broken promise. Chula Vista’s library budget was cut 55 percent and its staff 70 percent. Meantime, the shopping mall known as Otay Ranch Town Center struggled, too. Nearby home construction was halted. A toll road, the mall’s lifeline to the outside world, never clicked. General Growth Properties, the mall’s parent, filed for bankruptcy protection. And space next to the mall’s food court sat vacant.

Tim Colby, the mall’s general manager, was staring at an “Alice in Wonderland” quote etched on a food court wall when inspiration hit: “I suppose I ought to eat or drink something or other; but the great question is ‘what’?” The answer turned out to be a public library in 3,500 square feet of vacant space on a dollar-a-year lease. Chula Vista’s effervescent library director, Betty Waznis, was quick to buy in.

Then came the tasks of convincing corporate management to give away retail space for the public good and persuading city leaders that, yes, it could be done.

Thus was born the concept for a first-of-its kind public/private partnership in California – a full-service public library in a regional shopping mall.

Fast forward 18 months to April 14, 2012, opening day. Some 2,700 visitors turned out, with 1,600 signing up for library cards. In the succeeding weeks, 22,000 have visited.

Colby, of course, was motivated by more than dollar-and-cents concerns. But a double-digit increase in mall traffic has been the reward for enlightened mall management willing to take a chance on making a Town Center a true town center.

In the digital age, libraries are decidedly not outdated. “We have completely reinvented what we do and how we do it,” Waznis said. That includes Southwestern College classes at some locations or a first-of-its-kind mall branch with free Wi-Fi, eight computer terminals, two educational game computers (“always in use”), 7,500 books and self-checkout.

The model of expensive stand-alone buildings for branch libraries may be a relic. How much better to be in a public setting at shared expense.

“This innovative partnership has produced a modern model for the future of public library services,” said Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox, a former educator who recognizes the need to further a student’s learning in inviting settings outside the classroom. What could be more inviting to a teen than the mall?

Meanwhile, planned branch libraries in San Diego and elsewhere go unbuilt because the cities don’t have the millions needed to build them.